Credit Card Review Pages & Criteria

CREDIT CARD REVIEW
This is our reviewer’s comments about the features that stand out (and in some cases let down) each credit card. Sometimes our reviews can appear to be over-critical; our reviews are written independently of any commissions that we may receive and are completely unbiased. If a credit card that pays a high commission is a poor product (and this is often the case), then many websites will proclaim the supposed benefits of the card in an attempt to make as much money as possible. The primary focus of Fiscus Credit Cards is to ensure that consumers have informed choice when trying to get advice on credit cards and this applies with our reviews.

This means that you may have decided on one particular credit card, having read lots of good reports about it, only to find that we feel the card may be a bad idea. All we can say is that we value the credibility of our site and frown upon anyone that tries to ‘peddle’ credit cards without thinking of the consequences it may have on the cardholder. There have been numerous stories in the press in recent times, reporting on individuals that have been consumed by credit card debt and related issues. We feel that individuals that come to our site are less likely to end up with credit card-related problems and can instead use their flexible friend to their benefit.

More specifically with our reviews, when trying to provide a balanced opinion, we sometimes need to make negative points abundantly clear, in order to counteract the marketing speak of credit card promoters. Although this may reduce the number of cards that are ‘signed up’ through our site, we feel that we have our priorities correct and our morals intact. The objective of the team at Fiscus Finance is to ensure that we can continue to develop our site and add more reviews, credit card advice and news to it over time. This site is a profit-making venture, but we have (and continue to) put in a lot of time and effort developing it, primarily to help individuals in the UK make the correct credit card decision based on their own circumstances.

As a general note, applying for a credit card through our site (clicking ‘apply’ or on a banner will actually redirect you to the credit card issuers own secure server) does provide us with a commission from the credit card company, but there is no cost to you, the applicant. If you apply directly through the credit card company’s website, they simply pocket the commission for themselves. The credit card issuer pays us commission if you come through our site and sign up for a credit card, based on a ‘tracking code’ that informs them. You can usually spot this as a long line of garbage in the address bar at the top of your browser!

TYPE (CARD NETWORK)
This column shows whether a credit card is available as a Visa®, MasterCard® or American Express®. Some card issuers offer the choice between Visa and MasterCard, whereas Barclaycard allow their customers to have a Visa and a MasterCard as two separate accounts. Whereas Visa and MasterCard are virtually universally accepted, American Express is only accepted by a smaller number of merchants. Our types of credit cards section looks at the various networks in greater detail.

PITCH
This is the sales jargon used by the credit card promoters to outline the key features and benefits of their products.

SERVICE STANDARDS
This informs you of the customer service standards and how it is offered by the credit card issuer. This typically informs you of call centre opening hours, whether you can manage your account online and any other features that stand out from a customer service point of view.

INSURANCE AND OTHER BENEFITS
Many credit cards are promoted as offering a wide package of benefits, such as free purchase cover, price comparison services, discounted gas and electricity bills or cheap flights. When you are applying for this type of credit card, make sure that you evaluate the exact terms and range of benefits which are being offered, as some of them are not worth as much as the promoters make out. For example, if you are offered cheap gas and electricity as part of a credit card deal, make sure that you use a service such as U-Switch to see how these rates compare with other deals available. If you are offered free flights, find out what sort of charges are involved and if they are available from your local airport (many are only available from London Heathrow, or from Manchester and Birmingham Airports at a supplement). You may well find cheaper flight deals with a no-frills airline anyway.

REWARDS
This informs you of any rewards schemes that are provided by the credit card, such as cash back on purchases, Air Miles, Nectar or some other scheme that rewards you for purchasing on your card.

STANDARD REWARDS
When comparing cash back schemes on credit cards, it is very easy to compare competing cards as you just need to look for the card with the highest percentage cash back. When comparing rewards schemes that do not provide a cash rebate, but instead offer rewards points or similar, we have attempted to calculate a cash back equivalent value based on how much you would save using the points you accrue. This Standard Rewards Percentage, in theory, should help you decide which rewards credit card can benefit you the most.

Reward schemes, however, will lock you into a select group of retailers / service providers, so it is important to consider if you would benefit from rewards points. For example, collecting rewards points with a Virgin Credit Card may be pointless if you never actually spend any money on Virgin products and services.

As with introductory offers on credit card interest rates, some card issuers offer bonus introductory offers on their reward programmes too. The American Express Blue credit card provides a 3 month introductory cash back rate of 2%, reverting to the standard 1% cash back after the introductory period ends.  

STANDARD APR
This is the standard rate of credit card interest you can expect to pay on new purchases after any introductory offer has expired. Some introductory offers apply only to balance transfers, so the standard APR is often charged on all purchases from the moment you receive your new credit card.

BALANCE TRANSFER OFFER APR
This is the rate of interest during the offer period, often 0% for the first 6 months. Some cards offer fixed balance transfer rates for the life of the balance, such as the Capital One Platinum at 3.9%. Fiscus Credit Cards has comprehensive advice on balance transfers.

PURCHASE OFFER APR
 If a balance transfer offer is made at a low rate, this may also apply to new purchases made during the introductory period. Some credit card issuers, such as Egg, enable you to transfer the balance from other loans, overdrafts and store cards.

INTRODUCTORY OFFER PERIOD
This is the number of months for which the special interest rate offer lasts. This is usually for 6 months, although some card issuers offer low interest rate periods up until a set date, while other credit card companies offer special long term fixed rates for balance transfers, although these can have certain conditions attached.

INTEREST-FREE PERIOD
This is the maximum number of days of interest-free credit that you have until your balance must be paid in full before it accumulates interest. This is based on the time between making a purchase on the first day after your statement has been issued through to the final day when you can make a repayment of the balance and incur no interest. Although this is typically 56 days, there are some low interest credit cards which start charging interest as soon as you make the purchase.

If you intend to pay off the balance in full each month, make sure you get a credit card which offers a reasonable interest free period, otherwise you may end up needlessly paying interest between the date of the purchase and when your monthly direct debit payment is made.